Today reproductions of this picture are to be found in all parts of the world, thanks to Father Mateo. In recent years he was astonished to find this picture, or beautiful statues modeled after it, wherever he preached, in the Orient, in Europe, or in the United States. . . .
Again we see the mysterious workings of Divine Providence. It took a murder and a revolution to get the Garcia Moreno picture spread all over the world. And some 75 years later, after it had done its work, the painting was returned to its starting point to be honored in a national monument.
Father Mateo Goes Abroad
We left Father Mateo standing in the midst of the ruins of the school of law, in 1906. But we can be sure this energetic priest lost little time in bemoaning the misfortune that had befallen his favorite project. There was too much to do. Injured and homeless victims had to be taken care of, housed, and fed. Because Father Mateo's father had been a banker, Valparaiso bankers, particularly the members of the English colony, asked him to take care of the distribution of relief funds. This he began to do with his usual drive and energy.
But his health, always rather precarious, finally failed him. His doctors ordered him to stop all activities and, hoping that an ocean voyage would help him, they advised that he take a trip to Europe. His superiors decided to follow this advice. Consequently, he set sail from South America in March, 1907. For Father Mateo, this trip was to be more than a health voyage. In it he saw the opportunity to realize the dream of a lifetime: To make a pilgrimage to the shrine at Paray-le-Monial in France, where the Sacred Heart appeared to St. Margaret Mary.
After a visit to his superior general in Belgium, and possibly to Paray, he made his way to Rome, where providentially he met Cardinal Vives, who at one time had been a Capuchin cleric in California. To this prince of the Church, no
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